Arts & Culture

A big boost from Bigfoot: A small town in Oregon finds thousands of reasons to celebrate the mysteries of the Sasquatch

KLCC | By Jill Burke

Published July 21, 2023 at 11:05 AM PDT

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This image of a creature said to be a Bigfoot captured attention in 1967 when it was depicted in a film made by ranchers Roger Patterson and Robert Gimlin. Jeff Meldrum, a Bigfoot expert and university professor at Idaho State University, encourages his anthropology and anatomy students to study it.

Patterson/Gimlin / https://www.isu.edu/media/libraries/rhi/essays/Keith_rev.pdf

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Casts of large footprints purportedly belonging to a Sasquatch or Bigfoot will be on display at the second annual Glide Sasquatch Festival on Saturday, July 22.

Glide Revitalization / https://www.glidesasquatchfestival.com/

Jeff Meldrum, a professor of anatomy and anthropology at the Idaho State University, has dedicated much of his life to analyzing and documenting large footprints which he believes are made by a Bigfoot or Sasquatch. Here, he holds a cast of one such print. Meldrum says based on the data he's collected, he believes it is more likely than unlikely that the creatures are real. He will be among the experts on hand for a talk about his work at a fundraising dinner for Glide Revitalization on Friday, July 21. He will also attend the Glide Sasquatch Festival on July 22.

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Jeff Meldrum, a professor of anatomy and anthropology at Idaho State University, has dedicated much of his life to analyzing and documenting large footprints which he believes are made by a Bigfoot or Sasquatch. Here, he holds a cast of one such print. Meldrum says based on the data he's collected, he believes it is more likely than unlikely that the creatures are real. He will be among the experts on hand for a talk about his work at a fundraising dinner for Glide Revitalization on Friday, July 21. He will also attend the Glide Sasquatch Festival on July 22.

Jeff Meldrum / Jeff Meldrum

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Hair samples collected by Jeff Meldrum, a Bigfoot expert and professor of anatomy and anthropology at Idaho State University. Meldrum told KLCC one of the distinguishing characteristics that seems to be consistent with hair attributed to the creature is the lack of a cellular medulla. "When you look at a hair under a microscope, there's the hair shaft and there's a dark band down the center. And that band is usually comprised of the remnants of follicular cells that from which the remnants of nuclei and mitochondria are collected or extracted to get DNA. For some reason, this Sasquatch hair lacks a cellular medulla there are a couple other species of mammal that also lack a cellular medulla. Even humans occasionally do people with very fair blondish hair might sometimes lack one, but it's not common. That makes it more challenging to get DNA from a hair shaft that doesn't have an attached follicle and or skin tag," said Meldrum.

Jeff Meldrum / Jeff Meldrum

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Casts of large footprints said to be created by a Sasquatch or Bigfoot. Jeff Meldrum, a professor of anatomy and anthropology at Idaho State University told KLCC evaluating the gait and anatomy of bipedal species is among his expertise. He said he guards against hoaxes, and that there are several features of the impressions he's made that are consistent with the footprints you'd expect from a large primate who's adapted to walk in the forests of the Pacific Northwest. Meldrum is participating in the Glide Sasquatch Festival July 21 and 22.

Jeff Meldrum / Jeff Meldrum

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Scans of large footprints said to be created by a Sasquatch or Bigfoot. Jeff Meldrum, a professor of anatomy and anthropology at Idaho State University told KLCC evaluating the gait and anatomy of bipedal species is among his expertise. He said he guards against hoaxes, and that there are several features of the impressions he's made that are consistent with the footprints you'd expect from a large primate who's adapted to walk in the forests of the Pacific Northwest. Meldrum is participating in the Glide Sasquatch Festival as an invited expert on July 21 and 22.

Jeff Meldrum / Jeff Meldrum

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Various scans of large footprints said to be created by a Sasquatch or Bigfoot from the laboratory of Jeff Meldrum, a professor of anatomy and anthropology at Idaho State University. Meldrum told KLCC evaluating the gait and anatomy of bipedal species is among his expertise. He said he guards against hoaxes, and that there are several features of the impressions he's made that are consistent with the footprints you'd expect from a large primate who's adapted to walk in the forests of the Pacific Northwest. Meldrum is participating in the Glide Sasquatch Festival as an invited expert on July 21 and 22.

Jeff Meldrum / Jeff Meldrum

The Douglas County community of Glide has about 2,300 residents, based on school district boundaries. When it threw its first-ever Sasquatch festival last year, it enjoyed the influx of 2,500 attendees, according to Jeana Southwick, executive director of Glide Revitalization, the nonprofit organization that sponsors the festival, and which is known for assisting victims of 2020's Archie Creek Fire.

This year, Southwick said organizers expect the crowd to double in size to 5,000 people. The 2023 edition of the Glide Sasquatch Festival takes place Saturday, July 22 from 12 noon until 9 p.m.

While the festival is geared at all things Sasquatch — from Sasquatch-themed vendors, to Sasquatch calling contests and costume contests, it's also meant to bring skeptics and believers together for meaningful discourse.

Jeff Meldrum, an anatomy and anthropology professor at Idaho State University, is one of the invited experts featured at this year's festival. Since he was a boy in the 1960's, he's had a fascination with Bigfoot that's never waned, and these days he's considered an expert in Bigfoot footprints. Through careful collection, he's amassed hundreds of samples preserved by casts and photographs.

Meldrum acknowledges there is no definitive evidence that Sasquatch or Bigfoot exists. There is no confirmed DNA from alleged hair samples. No bodies. No bones. Even so, he says that doesn't negate the possibility that they are out there, yet to be discovered.

"I would argue it's not outlandish. It's not irrational or makes it [the existence of Bigfoot] unbelievable," he told KLCC. "The absence is frustrating, but it's not a damning one when you understand the physical and biologic principles involved in the fate of the remains of deceased animals and the attributes of Sasquatch make them all the more elusive, even posthumously."

Come to the festival and be converted?

Southwick thinks those types of large questions are part of the festival's appeal.

"There's something fun about a mystery," she said. "It's kind of like a treasure hunt. So Bigfoot is the Pacific Northwest treasure hunt. We all like knowing that there might be something out there that we don't know about or that there might be a little bit of a mystery in our own backyard."

While the Sasquatch mysteries loom, one thing is undeniable: being able to attract so many visitors through a single event has a measurable impact.

"If we're able to get the 5,000 people here it'll be absolutely huge, not just for our event, but it's a very small town, and we've got one road in, one road out. And everybody that comes through, stops and buys gas or gets a snack at the store, stops at any of our restaurants, it could mean like one of their biggest months of the year," Southwick said.

As for whether Sasquatch is a figure of the imagination or a mysterious real-life creature wandering among the forests, Southwick's leaning on festival spirit to lead the way.

"I'm hoping that we convert everybody from skeptics to believers," she said.

Editor's note: Organizers of the festival said afterwards that approximately 4,300 people attended.